Bayscape Blog 1/24/11
Think Spring
By Judy DeFiglio

The snow just keeps on coming and cabin fever is really setting in. But each day is getting a little longer and soon it will be spring. Okay, I hear you, “NOT SOON ENOUGH”! A sure cure for the winter blues is to think spring. Now is the perfect time to pick up a book or magazine and check out the latest garden info or head to the web and read a good garden blog. Just looking at the gorgeous flowers will lift your spirits.

Native plant enthusiasts really enjoy the spring. Many of our natives will be putting on a great show while the rest of the plant world is just waking up.

Here are a few favorite native perennials to brighten your springtime garden:

Bleeding heart (dicentra)- Pretty pink and white heart shaped flowers. This plant likes a little shade and moisture. It grows 4 to 6 feet tall then disappears in the heat of summer.

Blue Star ( Amsonia tabernaemontana) One of the earliest plants to flower, this 2 ½ to 3 feet tall plant has light blue flowers for three to four weeks in early spring. They like full sun and their leaves turn a pretty yellow in autumn

Columbine (Aquilegia Canadensis) 2 to 4 feet tall. These are unique shaped, two toned, red and yellow flowers with spurs. The leaves are rounded and the flower self sows but not invasively. It likes sun to part shade.

Several Phlox:

Moss pink (Phlox subulata) Only 3-6 inches tall this mat forming plant has masses of deep pink flowers in early spring. It takes full sun and likes our sandy soil. The occasional spring snows won’t bother it at all and your perennials will grow right up through this ground cover.

Woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata) This 1 to 1 ½ foot plant has lots of light blue, fragrant flowers throughout the spring and is perfect in a woodland setting.
Solomon Seal (Polygonatum) Another woodland plant that has beautiful arching stems with tiny drooping white flowers in spring.

Trees and Shrubs

Sweetspire (Itea virginica) This shrub is 4-6 feet tall with arching branches that have fragrant white drooping spires of flowers in spring. Though deciduous its stems are a coppery red color that add winter interest

Redbud (Cerciscanadensis) A small tree that has dark bark and gorgeous deep pink flowers. Leaves turn yellow in fall.

Serviceberry (Amelanchier Canadensis) This small tree has white flowers in spring followed by reddish purple fruit and red fall color

You may not be able to see your garden right now under all this snow, but you just imagine how beautiful it will look in a few weeks when spring arrives and the show begins.